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Illnesses and Insecurities
Chapter 4: Ilnesses & Insecurities Annabeth has a meet and greet with her inner demons. Percy has a meet and greet with his inner bacteria. '' *(See the end of the chapter for notes.) Annabeth's never been all that good with people. It was comically sad, she could plan and design a new building in under five minutes, climb the Statue of Liberty if she wanted to and beat the crap out of creeps wandering the street at night. But having conversations with other humans? That was uncharted territory. She didn't want to tell Percy that, gods he probably already thought there was something wrong with her after the way she'd looked at him yesterday when those thieves tried to take her money. If there was anything Annabeth refused to be it was a damsel in distress. Percy didn't need to know about her trust issues, or her self problems. She wasn't so pathetic that she'd dump her life burdens over the first guy to hold the door to a restaurant for her. Still, he probably deserved some explanation to the horrified look she'd gifted him with on their date outing. She didn't want to lose Percy, as cheesy as it sounded. He was the only good thing in her life right now, everything else was routine: plain, simple and scheduled. Annabeth liked it when things went to plan and she wouldn't admit this but she also liked it when things didn't go to plan... like meeting Percy Jackson. It was almost sad, now that the blonde teen reflected on it, how she had no one else. Her father didn't care for her (he'd made that clear), her mother had died giving birth to her and anyone she might have had before to call a 'friend' had long since spent their time and drifted on without her. All good things came to an end, that was Annabeth's motto. If she didn't get to know anyone then it wouldn't have to end because they hadn't known each other in the first place. Being with Percy, she realizes, means sooner or later he's going to pack his bags and go...and she'll be forced to pick up the pieces and add his name to the long list of people who had abandoned her. But the way he'd attacked that masked criminal for her made her uneasy. It was almost like he really did care about her, and how he defended her made it seem as if he wanted to protect her (not that she needed it mind you). Still, Luke had died, Thalia had left and Grover had gone off who knows where...and boy they sure fooled her into thinking they had something special before they left. Without a goodbye, a simple 'Later Annabeth I'm heading out' she never heard anything from them. They were gone just like that. It's two days after the incident that Annabeth decides she won't go on any more dates outings with Percy. No, she can't take another broken heart, even if he seemed a little different than the others. All people were the same, they just cared about themselves. It's seven at night when her cell phone blares her ringtone. She'd been heating up the pizza from a few days earlier, preparing to pull an all nighter studying for her history exam worth over half her grade and cramp her hand writing on over a billion study cards. They're coming. They're coming for you, but listen, your life could depend on this. Annabeth casts a sorrowful look at her small meal then glances at her phone screen. Unknown number. Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck. She didn't usually answer random calls, the only three contacts in her phone are the only ones she ever talks too. She doesn't know why she answered but it was almost as if her hand was drawn to push the answer button...like fate. "Hello?" She hears herself say and silently cursed how shaky her voice sounds. There's silence on the other end for a few seconds, as if the other person isn't sure what to say. "Annabeth? It's Percy." Annabeth notes the raspiness of his own voice, hoarse and weak. "Are you okay? You don't sound so good." A dry hacking sound comes through the line and it takes her a moment to realize it's laughter. "I'm fine, just suffering slightly..." Annabeth's heart does a gymnastics routine. "Um... okay what are you suffering from?" Cough. "A broken heart." Cough. Annabeth doesn't know how to answer this so she doesn't and there's a long silence. She isn't quite sure if it's awkward or not, she finds it (disturbingly) comforting how she can hear his- ragged- breathing and know he's taken time from his day to call her. "I am actually sick though," His voice finally breaks the silence, still sounding like a cat who got a hair ball stuck in its mouth. "I've got a fever, I checked," "How bad is it?" "I wouldn't say it's *cough cough* ba-bad, I mean I checked a few minutes ago," He starts rushing his words here, trying to get through the sentence before another coughing bout interrupts him, "and it's probably gone down because I really don't feel that awful at all it's just really cold and then warm and I don't know how to...manage..." Cough, cough, cough. Annabeth narrows her eyes even though he can't see her and repeats in a firmer tone: "How bad is it?" She can practically see the hesitation in his eyes and imagines him biting his lip before the awful numbers are spoken. "103." He sounds painfully distraught at having to tell her, and Annabeth knows she shouldn't panic. 103 was bad and Percy shouldn't have to deal with it alone. Gods he was such a Seaweed Brain of course he didn't know what to do. She tucks the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she starts packing a bag full of vile tasting medicines and large quantities of tissues. "Are you alone, Percy?" There's a loud sneeze and a nasally voice answers: "Yeah. My mom had to work... and I a-a-ATCHOO!" "Can you text me your address?" Ten minutes later Annabeth's practically kicking his apartment door open and scanning the closet of a room for signs of Percy. In her arms she holds a bowl of steaming broth, a large bag of cough drops and anything else one needs when they are not feeling particularly well. His apartment is a mess, but Annabeth really hadn't expected anything else. She takes great care not to step on a cracked wooden skateboard (who leaves a skateboard in place of a welcome mat?) and skirts around what appears to be a pile of odorous laundry (but no one can be quite sure with Percy) and finally has to leap over the one clean thing in the apartment: a fish tank. After dodging and hurdling obstacles Annabeth does her best to search for sick and sniffly Percy but he's nowhere in sight. It takes her a long moment to realize the quivering lump on the couch covered in tissues, blankets and candy wrappers is Percy. She picks her way closer until she's kneeling at the side of the couch and gently shaking the wobbly mass. "Percy?" She whispers, afraid he might have been sleeping and she'd woken him up. There's a groan from inside the covers and then with some struggle Percy's head pops out into the open and he's blinking at her through sleep filled eyes and trying to form complete sentences. "Annabeth! I didn't- I thought- you're here-...I mean-" Annabeth cuts him off sharply by pressing a hand to his forehead. "Maybe I should come back with some eggs," she tries for a joke. "Then we could cook them on your forehead." To his credit Percy manages to grin and choke on a couple slurred 'hahahas.' He's burning up and in honesty Annabeth isn't really sure what to do but she's supposed to be wise and she can figure this out or die trying. "But seriously, I think the best possible thing to do is keep resting." The blonde starts for the kitchen to fill a cup of water. "That way your body can fight off the bacteria itself." Percy doesn't reply to that and Annabeth is concerned that he may have fallen asleep again but just when she's decided he probably had he says aloud: "I was going to ask you to come over anyways." Annabeth pauses in her search to find a cup in the clutter Percy may have call a kitchen and casts a look of both surprise and confusion in the general direction of the couch. There aren't many words to answer that, or maybe Annabeth's social skills were lacking even worse than she had originally thought but the only response she can conjure is just a boring: "You were?" Percy clears his throat from the other room. "Yeah, I thought we could have a movie date. I already picked out the movie, but the only problem was getting you here. So my coming down with a cold-" "Fever," Annabeth corrected. "My coming down with a fever was both a blessing and a curse. I hear chicks dig sick guys." Annabeth can barely suppress the laughter that threatens to spill from her lips and she resorts to shoulder shaking. "You wish," is her retort though it doesn't sound as sharp as she'd hoped. "It got you here didn't it?" Percy's snide voice wafts into the kitchen and Annabeth fights the urge to roll her eyes. Her gaze finally lands on a clean glass (or hopefully clean) and she snatches it up, fills it with tap water (he doesn't deserve fridge water) and continues the conversation out to where Percy is laying. "I only came becausssseee," she draws out the 'because' as she places the water on the table where it should be easily accessible. "I thought you might be dying and I wanted to be the last face you saw as you choked to death, knowing I did nothing to help." Percy grins, stupidly, since Annabeth thought it had been a pretty good insult. How badly she wanted to slap that smile off his face...didn't she? "I would want you to be the last face I saw, too." Percy confesses earnestly, nose running with snot. He unburies an arm from his blanket fortress and flails for a bit trying to find her. Reluctantly, Annabeth lends him a hand (literally) and he takes it. Annabeth has to bite her lip because, yes his hands are uncomfortably warm but, they feel so...nice. "My face?" Annabeth can't help but ask incredulously. "I mean yours being so pretty and all, I think it's a natural thing to hope for." Percy's sincere tone is the only that doesn't make Annabeth snort, and the warm feeling his eyes are doing to her is just enough to make the walls barricading outsiders from her heart crumble, just like that. It's at this moment that Annabeth notices two things: 1) There are way too many sudden silences in their relationship and they all take place because she has no clue what to say 2) She really really likes Percy Jackson. '''Notes:' Next chapter will be Percy's POV (as usual) and there's some getting-to-know-your-soulmate-time plus Annabeth gets to meet Sally Jackson and Gabe Ugliano. *NEXT CHAPTER *PREVIOUS CHAPTER *BLUE CUPCAKES INDEX Category:Blue Cupcakes Category:HunterofArtemis12 Category:Hunter's little collection of Fanfiction Category:Fanfiction